Wyoming Writing Project

Royce Philpott

12/17/03

Do You Want to Get to Know Your Students and Their Families?

            Wyoming Writing Project Director, Connie Currie, returned from the NWP conference, in San Francisco from November 20^th through the 22^nd, with a very interesting idea: Family Writing Projects.  Arthur Kelly, a teacher at John C. Fremont Middle School in Las Vegas, gave a presentation on how Family Writing Projects have helped his students and their parents become more involved in the writing process; a Family Write Project gives teachers, students, and parents the opportunity to work together and broaden learning outside of the school setting.  Parents become aware of the writing process, which gives them an idea of how their child learns; for this to occur, parents and students participate in various activities as backdrops for writing topics.  Some activities are: show and tell, letters to family members, group poems and stories, thirty second interviews, writings on various topics of the teacher’s choice, and journal writings to encourage participants to write about anything they wish.  These activities are essential to achieve the goals of The Family Writing Project. 

            One goal of The Family Writing Project is to create a sense of community within a school.  This is accomplished by participants celebrating the cultures of all those who attend, and not allowing cultural or social barriers to stand in the way of their writing.  According to Arthur, cultural diversity is celebrated by, “honoring families’ identities through discussions, prewriting activities, and writings.”  An example Arthur gives of honoring family identities is a potluck dinner; “Families bring foods that represent their cultural/family traditions.”  The potlucks are followed by writing about the foods and traditions experienced.  Arthur feels that, “very often the sense of community develops from the recognition that a) there are plenty of differences between families b) there are plenty of similarities between families and c) both are necessary to a community.” 

            A second goal is to publish participant’s writings in an anthology.  This anthology allows the true voices of the families to be heard.  Arthur says the anthology, “was the guiding principle behind my desire to create a family writing project in my neighborhood.”  The anthology gives the families the chance to speak; rather than, only being represented by schools, local government, and the media.  When these goals are accomplished, participants can see many benefits. 

            One benefit for the students is: they enjoy having their parents learn along side them; they also enjoy having a leadership role when teaching their parents something new.  Another benefit is that students receive positive feedback from teachers, parents, and other students’ parents.  This generates the idea that the student is involved in something special; not just another class, where their writing is given formal evaluation.  Arthur states that the sessions are not about, “how well a person writes, but rather, that a person writes at all.”  Along with the benefits to the students, there are also benefits for their parents. 

            Parents have the chance to spend quality time with their children other than sitting at home watching television, or sitting at home doing nothing.  While connecting to the school community, parents become involved in their child’s education, by social interaction with teachers and other parents.  Along with the social interaction, bilingual (or multilingual) parents strengthen their English skills without taking a formal English class; instead, they can build their skills by speaking and writing English with their children.  To some it may seem that there are no benefits for the teachers, just more work, but this is not so.

            Teachers are able to really get to know their students outside of the classroom; students in an accommodating environment are more likely to open up and let their real self show, rather than the sometimes hostile environment of the classroom.  Teachers are also able to learn more about their students’ families.  Another benefit is that teachers can have fun teaching without having to give the participants’ writings formal evaluation. These sessions may also encourage students to become more involved in the classroom.  The list of benefits for teachers is not limited to these few; Arthur states, “Teachers who facilitate Family Writing Projects are constantly energized by the experience. They create new writing opportunities for families, with amazing results.  Teachers gain opportunities for creativity and autonomy, and get to explore what really matters to their (students) families.  Their role as teacher changes from power figure to peer, and as the relationship changes, they gain new insights into their students and their families.”

            A person interested in starting a Family Writing Project must realize that it takes a lot of work and planning.  Sometimes parents do not want to come to their child’s school; the only time some parents visit a school is when their child is in trouble.  To get a Family Writing Project started, Arthur says, “Start small.  Recruit at an open house.  Send home letters.  Make phone calls.  Once you have a core group interested, stay in constant contact with them.”  Along with this work, teachers in charge should provide some incentive for families to come; “We always supply snacks and drinks.  And, at the first meeting, we always have presents, such as journals, for the kids.” 

-----The above article appeared in the newsletter of the Wyoming Writing Project, Constance Currie, Director.  It was written by intern Royce Philpott.